Miami judge says baseball star free to return to Japan

Tokyo Yakult Swallows' Wladimir Balentien hits his 56th homer to break Japan's single-season, off Hanshin Tigers' Daiki Enokida in the first inning of their regular season baseball game in Tokyo, in this photo taken by Kyodo September 15, 2013.
REUTERS/Kyodo

MIAMI A Miami judge ordered that baseball player Wladimir 'Coco' Balentien, a star player in Japan, can leave the United States to rejoin his Tokyo team after pleading not guilty on Friday to domestic violence charges.

Miami-Dade County Circuit Court judge Dennis Murphy said Balentien can have his passport back, potentially leaving him free to travel to Japan in time for the beginning of spring training on February 1.

Last year he broke the single-season home run record in Japan with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, hitting 60 home runs in 130 games, breaking the longtime previous record of 55 set by legendary Japanese slugger Sadaharu Oh.

Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league begins its season in late March.

The Curacao-born, 29-year-old outfielder previously played in the United States for the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds.

Balentien was due to be arraigned on February 3 on two charges of false imprisonment and misdemeanor domestic battery, and will now not likely be required to appear in court until a trial is held.

When asked how long Balentien planned to stay in Japan, one of his attorneys, Omar Malone, said "hopefully for the whole season."

Assistant State Attorney Alejandra Lopez told the court she was concerned that Balentien, who is not a U.S. citizen, might not appear for his next court date if he was allowed to return to Japan.

Balentien is a public figure and a star in Japan who appears on national TV "every day," said David Rothman, who also represents the baseball player.

He has also agreed to sign an extradition waiver, his lawyers said, relieving Japanese authorities of any need to protect him if prosecutors in the U.S. sought his arrest.

Balentien, who is in divorce proceedings, had an altercation with his wife in Miami which led to the charges, according to court records.

The case is State of Florida v Wlodmir Balentien,

F-14-000858.

(Writing by David Adams, editing by G Crosse)

Next In U.S.

NEW YORK A crane collapse in February that killed one person, injured three pedestrians and flattened parked cars along a busy street in New York City was the result of operator error, a city report concluded on Friday.

The Dallas Police and Fire Pension System's board has halted withdrawals from a deferred retirement plan following a lawsuit by the city's mayor, who claimed withdrawals were accelerating the $2.7 billion pension system's descent into insolvency.

Reuters is the news and media division of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Learn more about Thomson Reuters products: